LTE technology, for example, defines a packet radio system, where all channel allocations are expected to happen in short periods of sub-frames. This is contrary to the older 3G systems, where dedicated signalling channels are necessary to be set up even for packet traffic. It is also different from WLAN (Wireless Local Area Network) type of allocations, where each IP (Internet Protocol) packet transmission contains a transport header.
According to LTE technology, all allocations are signalled in Shared Control Channels, which are present in first multi-carrier symbols of a sub-frame preceding multi-carrier symbols of data channels. The control channels are separately coded. That is, a downlink (or uplink) channel is divided into two separate parts, one for control and one for data. The data part (PDSCH) carries downlink (or uplink) data for simultaneously scheduled users, while the control part (PDCCH) carries (among others) allocation information for the scheduled users.